JeffCom 911 to test code red system with nearly 1 million notifications

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- The Jefferson County Communications Center Authority will send out nearly 1 million emergency alert notifications on Tuesday morning as part of its annual test to make sure the code red system is working.

Code red is what law enforcement uses to warn residents of threats in their neighborhood. That could be an encroaching wildfire or a gunman on the run.

The test has become more critical with more people ditching their landlines and relying on cellphones.

"Originally, the system was set up so that we used the entire database of all the landlines," JeffCom 911 operations manager Vicki Pickett said.

"Obviously, people nowadays are getting rid of landlines and we don't track that so it's up to the citizen to go in an put in their cellphone and associate it with their address.

"We want to make sure people are notified when there is an imminent threat."

The alerts will start rolling out about 9 a.m. It will take about six hours to get through the database because officials don't want to overload local phone networks.

Residents can sign up online and alerts can be received by phone, text and email and there's no limit per household.